


Love Confessions - Marauders Era

by TheDarkLagoon



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/F, F/M, Love Confessions, M/M, Marauders, Marauders Era (Harry Potter), Marauders Friendship (Harry Potter), Pranks and Practical Jokes
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-28
Updated: 2021-03-02
Packaged: 2021-03-14 09:08:24
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 17,750
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29043633
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheDarkLagoon/pseuds/TheDarkLagoon
Summary: Everyone knows James Potter tried many times to win Lily Evans' heart by various extravagant and, lets say, marauder-like ways only to be rejected time and time again. What many don't know, is that Sirius Black did the same thing for Remus Lupin. No matter the plentiful rejections, Potter and Black's egos always remain unbruised. The Marauder leader and his right-hand-man are always mere minutes away from the next big plan for romantic conquest. The two are stubborn and convinced that love will find a way; it is only a matter of time and determination. Join the two brothers-in-arms as they get up to mischief in the name of love.In a perfect world where homophobia is not a thing and Sirius can openly express his feelings for Remus (and vice versa), I'd like to think that Sirius, ever the dramatic, would make big, flamboyant and hilarious public proclamations of love (along with his mate, James). This is a collection of small stories of such love confessions (all connected). Mainly focused on Wolfstar, but plenty of Jily too. I'm open to requests. Enjoy!Disclaimer 1: having written this in good fun and fictional worlds, remember that NO MEANS NODisclaimer 2: this will include profanities
Relationships: James Potter/Lily Evans Potter, Marlene McKinnon/Dorcas Meadowes, Sirius Black/Remus Lupin
Comments: 30
Kudos: 49





	1. The pact that started it all

Sirius knew he was in love with Remus Lupin the moment he laid eyes on him.

Well, perhaps not _that_ exact moment. He didn't even know he was gay back in first year. But the minute he realised just how queer he is, on a particularly warm day back in his third year at Hogwarts (some very handsome male Quidditch players had wiped away their sweat with their shirts and _those fucking abs_ -), he just knew; it had always been Moony. Maybe it was because of how mesmerizing he found Remus' golden hued, green eyes. Sirius could stare at those eyes for days on end. Or perhaps it was due to his soft, light brown hair that Sirius loved to smell and mess with when Remus would unconsciously fall asleep on his shoulder after a rather exhausting full moon, or before it. It could be a number of things, really. Remus' smile. Remus' intellect. Remus' witty and hilarious sarcasm. The way Remus always manages to mess up even the simplest things at Potions. The way Remus gets so absorbed in the books he's reading that he won't even notice when James and Sirius are levitating Peter in their dormitory to test a spell for a prank. The way Remus understands him so well. Understands all his demons better than even James ever could, because unlike his best mate, Remus had experienced real pain himself. All those scars Remus has and hates but Sirius adores, because they belong to his Moony. All those late night talks, whether they be serious ones, or silly ones meant to distract them both from their worries.

Maybe it was Remus' blushes. Those small, almost unnoticeable blushes that Remus tries to hide so hard, but if Sirius gets really observant and really lucky, he'll catch one before Remus can make an excuse to hide it. Those blushes that always happen around Sirius. Those bloody adorable blushes that have Sirius convinced that Remus fancies him back.

Sirius doesn't know exactly _what_ made him realise just how hopelessly in love he is with Remus Lupin. Perhaps it was a combination of all those things. But he just knew. He was as whipped as James was with Lily Evans. Perhaps, he liked to think, even more so.

Sirius knew he could trust James about these feelings. In fact, the minute he realised just how much he adored Remus, Sirius dragged James' ass up to their dormitory, cast a quick _Muffliato_ around James' bed, and told James everything. James, in return, reassured Sirius that absolutely nothing could ruin his friendship with Remus and supported him wholeheartedly in his newly decided journey of getting a date with Remus Lupin.

At first, Sirius tried being smooth and subtle. Light flirting. Maybe a bit more physical contact. A shitload of compliments.

Nothing. Remus would either roll his eyes and reply with something sarcastic, hide a blush, or simply act as if this is a normal thing close mates did with each other.

Then, Sirius realised it wasn't just about Remus being brilliant. Remus needed to be reminded of just how brilliant _Sirius_ is as well! So, obviously, Sirius started showing off. Acting standoffish. That is to say, more than he usually did. Showing how great he is at Quidditch or how clever and talented in magic he is through his pranks. Making sure to roll up his sleeves or unbutton his blouse when they would relax in their dormitories "for maximum comfort". Making sure to always have perfect hair around him (which was as easy as breathing).

Still nothing. The idiot did not do anything in return.

Fed up with all this, and having pined for over a year, Sirius decided to muster all of the courage that landed him in Gryffindor and just confess to Remus.

Remus was too shocked to blush, frozen still. Once he registered what Sirius had told him, a frown made its way to his mouth, making Sirius uneasy.

"I'm too dangerous, too much of a burden to be with anyone." That's what Remus had told him that day. He refused to answer if he liked Sirius back. Argued with Sirius when he said that Remus was being a bloody moron for thinking that way, for tormenting himself like that, for thinking he doesn't deserve that kind of love. For thinking he is a monster.

The argument lasted weeks. An uncomfortable air could be felt surrounding the Marauders' dormitory. Remus wanted things to go back to normal. For the two of them to remain friends. But Sirius was just too furious. He didn't care that much for the rejection, but rather for the way Remus insisted on putting himself down because of his bleeding lycanthropy.

After seeing how upset Remus was over possibly losing one of his best friends, however, and how that affected him over the full moon, Sirius decided to apologize to Remus for worrying him like that and reassure him that they would always be friends.

"But I _will_ get that date." Sirius told him, stubborn as ever. "We were meant to be Moony. You may not admit it, but I know you feel the same way, and I will change your mind about this. Even if I have to ask you out every day until you say yes."

Remus smiled softly at him and rolled his eyes, too tired to talk some sense into the idiot. "Whatever you say."

Remus should not have doubted Sirius. Remus should not have taken his words lightly. Because that night, James and Sirius made a pact. A rather dramatic and some would say childish pact. A pact to win over their true loves together.

Sixth year was just around the corner and James Potter would get that yes from Lily Evans.

Sixth year was just around the corner and Sirius Black would get that yes form Remus Lupin.


	2. Operation "Amortentia Wishes It Worked This Well" is a go

"Oi, Evans!" James called out, ever eloquently, as he saw Lily approaching the Gryffindor table with Mary. By habit and without even realizing it, he run his hand through his hair the moment his eyes landed on Lily. He patted the empty space next to him, sitting a bit straighter, an excited smile on his face. "Saved you a seat."

Lily didn't even bother looking at him. Instead she rolled her eyes and sat further down the table, in a position that would allow her the least amount of peripheral vision at James' direction as possible. Mary let out a small snort at Potter's expense before sitting down next to her redheaded friend, the two of them getting on with their breakfast.

A teasing smirk made its way across Sirius' features, who was sitting across his mate on the table and had the best view of James' lovestruck face as the poor sod stared at the back of Lily's head for a bit, a longing sigh escaping him.

"She's so pretty when she ignores me like that..."

Sirius let out a chuckle. "Whipped. You are absolutely whipped, mate."

At those words, James turned to look back at Sirius with an accusing, raised brow. Before he could remark, however, two very sleepy Gryffindors entered the Great Hall.

Sirius sat up excitedly, eyes locking on Remus and ignoring Peter completely. James could clearly envision Padfoot's dog ears perking up and his tail wagging around like crazy. _Pot. Kettle._ He thought to himself.

"Moony!" Remus looked like walking death, as he did every morning at breakfast. But to Sirius' eyes, he was the most beautiful sight. "Here, I saved you a seat."

"Weird, last time I checked I wasn't wearing Prongs' invisibility cloak." Peter muttered tiredly as he sat down next to James, rubbing his one eye in a sleepy manner before smelling all the glorious food Hogwarts had to offer, and fully waking up to eat.

James wrapped an arm around Peter with a teasing smirk. "Never mind him, Wormtail. He's too busy drooling over our Moony over here to pay the rest of us any attention. But don't worry, _I_ still love you."

Remus sat down next to Sirius, too tired to comment on anything. He simply started putting food on his plate, his eyes half closed. It took him a full minute to realise his plate had already plenty of food in it. He turned over to look at Sirius next to him, who looked very pleased with himself as he was looking back at Remus.

"I already started filling your plate with your favourites. I know how hungry you get." Sirius simply explained.

Remus, a bit more woken up by now, replied with a simple "Thanks, Pads" before he started eating his food.

"You can properly thank me by taking me out on a date." Sirius was quick to reply, cheekily. 

If Remus wasn't used to this by now, he would have choked on his sausage. Luckily, he _was_ used to it. "No." was all he said in reply as he then continued eating, as if nothing had happened.

 _And the dog ears just fell_ , James amused himself as he thought.

"Not even 8am yet and he has already asked Remus out three times." Peter said to no one in particular, also amused.

"Three? I only recall two." Remus replied, puzzled.

Peter's smile widened as he shoved more scrambled eggs in his mouth. "Wone opf dem you were still-" he paused to swallow "sleeping." 

Remus turned to raise a questioning brow at Sirius, only to find him still staring at Remus and Remus alone.

Sirius allowed a toothy grin to escape him. "I found you smiling in your sleep when I went to wake you up. Assumed you were dreaming of me, naturally."

This time Remus did react, a small snort escaping him. "Oh, but of course." he replied, highly amused. "Because when one is unconsciously smiling, then they _must_ be thinking of Gryffindor's very own Sirius Black. Hottest bloke our House has to offer." Remus refused the urge to roll his eyes as he talked, trying to sound as serious as possible.

Sirius gasped dramatically. "Why, Remus Lupin, you _insult_ me!" James and Peter shared a look before looking back at their overly dramatic friend. "Just our _House_??? I'll have you know, good sir, that I am the hottest bloke that _Hogwarts_ has to offer." he breathed out, causing all three of his friends to fondly roll their eyes at him. "Or even more correct, the entire of Wizarding Britain!"

"Why not muggle Britain as well?" Peter asked then as James run a hand through his hair again.

Sirius looked at Peter with a serious expression. "That tittle is reserved for David Bowie."

"Agreed." Remus chimed in and Sirius couldn't even be angry with himself for not being jealous, because they both loved David Bowie so much. 

"Evans!" James' eyes were glued behind Remus, as Lily was now standing there, looking down at the young werewolf.

She rolled her eyes at James, ignoring his gaze. "It's too early to deal with you, Potter." she replied and then focused on Remus again. "Ready for Arithmancy, Remus?"

Remus nodded with a smile. "Is Marls meeting us there?"

"Yes. She went ahead to meet with Dorcas."

Remus checked his satchel to make sure all his books were in it and then smiled at the three remaining Marauders as he stood up, being the only one out of the four of them who took Arithmancy. "See you at Transfigurations, lads. "

"See ya, Moons." "Later, Moony."

"No kiss goodbye?" came Sirius' cheeky voice.

Remus simply rolled his eyes and started walking away, Lily at his side. Sirius could have sworn he saw just a hint of pink forming under Remus' cheeks before he left.

"How about you, Evans?" James quickly shouted after her, but whether she heard him or not, she didn't give any sign of acknowledgement.

James and Sirius sat still, drooling after the two walking figures.

Peter sighed at the two before getting another mouthful of food in him. 

"So, when are we enacting operation 'Amortentia Wishes It Worked This Well'?" Sirius asked the minute Lily and Remus left the Great Hall. His words caused Peter to let out a confused "Huh?", a bit of gravy falling out of his mouth.

James ignored Peter and instead answered Sirius. "Today. The sooner the better. We did spent all summer coming up with all these brilliant ideas, after all. It'd be a shame not to put them all in action."

"What are the two of you going on about? What have I missed? Are the Marauders pulling another prank and no one told me?"

James and Sirius smirked at each other, mischief clear in their eyes, as they then faced Peter in unison.

"Peter, my friend, this year you are going to get a front row seat in some of the world's most brilliant wooing techniques!"

Peter looked at Sirius more confused than before. "That doesn't really answer my questions."

James run yet another hand through his hair. "We'll tell you when we need your help with a plan, but for now just sit back and watch as the professionals finally get Lily Evans-" "And Remus Lupin", Sirius chimed in, "-to say yes to a date." 

Peter still wasn't entirely sure what his friends were talking about, but if it involved Lily and Remus then he knew one thing for sure, a small smile making his way through his chubby features. It was not going to be a quiet year.

-

James and Sirius decided to spent the hour they had off in the morning before Transfiguration to discuss their 'battle plan'. They went over the list of romantic gestures they prepared over the summer at James' home (now Sirius' home as well) and agreed to start small.

"Do you remember the spell we found for this?" James asked Sirius.

Sirius rolled his eyes. "Of course I do, Prongs."

"Good."

After they were all done with their afternoon classes, the four Marauders headed up to the Gryffindor Tower together, discussing everything and nothing at the same time. Once they set foot into the Common Room, James and Sirius shared a quick look that didn't go unnoticed by Remus.

"Do I even want to know what you two did this time?"

"My dear, beloved Moony, you offend me." Sirius replied, wrapping his arm around the werewolf's shoulders. "Must you always assume we're up to no good?"

"Seeing as we use those exact words to open the map, then I would feel it necessary to do so." a small, almost undetectable smile adorned his features.

"Sometimes mischief can do lots of good." James argued with a smile, eyeing the staircase to the girls' dormitory. "Do you reckon Evans already headed towards her dorm?"

"Why?" Now Remus was actually worried.

"No reason." Sirius replied almost immediately. "Just Prongs being a lovestruck idiot, as usual." Remus went to remark, but Sirius spoke up again. "Tell you what, how about Pete stays down here to keep Mister James Evans over here company as he waits for his fancy, and the two of us head up to the dorm?"

"I also want to- _Oo_ _mpf_!" James shouldered Peter at his side to stop him from talking, and both James and Sirius shot him a look. "Ugh, I mean, sure." he said, rubbing his side, looking up at James with a slightly irritated expression.

Remus was now eyeing all of them suspiciously, but he was too exhausted from the lessons to argue. "Fine, but only because I want to leave my books at my desk." he then glared lightly at Sirius. "If another transfigured chair attacks me then I'm hexing your bollocks to shrink three sizes."

Sirius scoffed. "Even three sizes smaller, they would be huge. You're missing out here, Moony."

Remus rolled his eyes once more at Black's ego and started walking up the stairs towards their dormitory, wand at the ready. He didn't get to use his wand, however, as what awaited him was a room full of purple flowers, magically growing out of every surface.

"What the-"

Sirius' smirk widened. "They're lupins. Just for you, my love." Sirius thought himself successful seeing as Remus was sporting a pink blush on his cheeks and ears the moment Sirius uttered those words.

Remus was still staring around the room with eyes open wide, his mouth only slightly agape, not really knowing what to comment on first. Sirius was looking at him expectantly. When Remus finally opened his mouth to say something, not yet knowing exactly what, Lily's voice was heard shouting from outside.

_"James Potter, you complete pervert! How did you get into the girls' dormitory?!"_

Remus turned to look at Sirius, the question clear on his face.

"The spell we found for this works with any kind of flower. James went with lilies, for obvious reasons." Sirius explained. 

"And how exactly _did_ you two get into the girls' dormitory?"

Sirius' smile widened in pure mischief and obnoxious pride. "Some things should be kept secret. Wouldn't you agree, Mister Werewolf?"

Remus ignored Sirius and looked back at the room, conflicted emotions flowing through him.

Sirius saw that and cut a single lupin flower that was growing on the wooden bed next to him and offered it to Remus. "So, do I get that date now?"

Remus looked at the flower in Sirius' hand and then back at Sirius himself. Gorgeous, kind, hilarious, clever Sirius. He almost broke.

_"Wouldn't you agree, Mister **Werewolf**?"_

The words Sirius had just said mere minutes ago rang through his head. That's right, he reminded himself, he was a dangerous dark creature. He was sure to be nothing but a burden to Sirius. He couldn't allow this.

"I'm going to go check on Lily." he said as emotionlessly as possible. "You and James better make sure you know how to clean this up so we can sleep in our beds tonight." and with that he left.

Sirius frowned, but quickly recovered his determined grin. He wasn't going to give up that easily. James and he still had a whole arsenal of romantic plans. Remus Lupin would say yes to that date.

It was only a matter of time.


	3. Love is a mess

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Thin White Duke was the persona and character of English musician David Bowie during 1975 and 1976.

Okay, so the flowers did not work. That wasn't going to shatter James and Sirius' confidence. If anything, it only fired them up more. A true Marauder was always up for a challenge.

The first Hogsmeade weekend of the year was coming up and the two planned to take full advantage of the trip there.

"Can we stop by Tomes and Scrolls before we head to Zonko's? I need to see if they have any books on anti-gravity spells for the prank." Remus said as the four Marauders were walking together towards the village.

Sirius, who was walking in between James and Remus, could not stop smiling every time he looked at the young werewolf next to him. One thing he adored about weekends (other than there being no lessons) was the fact that he got to see Remus dressed in his casual, muggle clothes. Over the years the worrywart had become accustomed to wearing the plainest, most boring pieces of clothing he could find so that no one could ever suspect him of being a 'dangerous dark creature'. Big, plain jumpers and simple trousers or jeans. Once Sirius caught Remus wearing bell-bottoms because they were supposed to be 'all the rage with muggles', but after the kind of teasing Remus took from the Marauders for that, he never wore them again. Still, Sirius' favourite were Remus' elbow patched sweaters. In Sirius' opinion, they gave Remus a very professor-y look that Sirius just adored. Sirius would take Sexy Professor Lupin over The Thin White Duke any day.

"Can't we just meet up at Honeydukes and then head to Zonko's together after that?" Peter suggested, looking up at James next to him as he always did, willing to do whatever James Potter decided on. "While I very much appreciate all the research you do for the Marauders, Moony, I don't really look forward to spending my weekend off school in a room surrounded by books for even a second."

"But Moony also wants to go into Honeydukes!" Sirius spoke up for Remus. "Honestly, Wormtail, you'd think that by now Remus' chocolate addiction would become apparent to you." he teased.

Peter's cheeks reddened slightly in embarrassment. He opened his mouth to argue. "It _is_ apparen-"

"Calm down, lads." once James spoke, everyone shut their mouths and focused on him. There were no actual leaders in the Marauders, but everyone knew that if there was one, it'd be James Potter. The calm one. The confident one. The mother hen. The natural-born leader. The other three always found themselves listening to him. "Pete, it's not fair of us to let Moony do all the research for this on his own. We're all heading to Tomes and Scrolls and not just to muck about while Remus works. We're going to help him look for the books, head over to Honeydukes afterwards for a well-earned sweet break, and then go to Zonko's to buy anything we might need for this and future pranks. After that we can kick back at The Three Broomsticks. Everyone alright with that?"

All three nodded and started for the bookshop.

The minute they entered the store and Remus got distracted by all the books, Sirius and James grabbed Peter by either arm and dragged him in a corner to talk to him in private.

"Okay, here's the plan." James started, confusing Peter. "Sirius and I have to look up some spells that neither the Hogwarts Library nor the Potter Manor had, but Remus _cannot_ know about it. Stick with him to make sure he doesn't come our way unless we signal you that it's okay. Pretend to be helping."

Peter frowned. "This won't be another flower fiasco, will it? I still smell lupins every time I try to fall asleep."

"Don't you lose your faith in us, Wormtail. Not only will this be brilliant, but it will also work perfectly this time!" Sirius replied.

Peter simply rolled his eyes at them and let out an exasperated sigh. He walked towards Remus, who was now sitting on the floor of the store, his back against a big bookshelf, and trailing lines of the open book he had on his lap with his index finger.

Sirius stared at the sight of him with heart eyes.

"Come here, you mutt." James grabbed Sirius by the collar of his shirt to drag him towards another bookshelf. "You can drool over your boyfriend later. Now we have work to do."

The bell at the door rang, indicating a new costumer just entered.

"Hey, isn't that Evans?" Sirius asked.

James stopped dragging Sirius, his head turning so quickly towards the entrance that Sirius was amazed it didn't break. The smile on James' face fell as he saw two younger students standing there. No Lily Evans in sight.

Sirius started laughing at his friend and James smacked the back of his head with a glare.

"You twat!"

-

_BOOM!_

Remus raised a brow but didn't dare look up from his cartography book. He was trying to see if there was anything he could do to improve the Marauder's Map. He didn't have time for whatever Sirius and James were doing up at their dormitory. It sounded explosive, so they were probably just playing exploding snaps indoors again, like idiots. That is to say, the Marauders version, with the deck of cards they enhanced back in second year because _"C'mon, Remus! It'll be so much more fun!"_

_SMASH!_

Alright, that was definitely the sound of something breaking.

He closed his book temporarily, his index finger placed at the page he was at. "What are those two morons doing up there?" He looked upwards, towards the stairway to their dormitory.

"I don't know." Peter replied automatically, too focused on his Potions essay to be bothered by the usual ruckus of the Gryffindor Common Room (meaning the usual ruckus of James Potter and Sirius Black). Then, as if just realizing something, Peter froze still. He placed his quill on top of his parchment, turned to give Remus a very unconvincing smile and stood up, dusting off his trousers. "But I can go and check on them for you. You know, so that you can continue doing..." he looked at what book Remus was reading and then back at him "that." he gestured at his book.

Peter was already walking off before Remus even had the chance to reply.

 _As a Prefect I should be concerned_ , he thought to himself as he saw Peter's chubby, petite figure walking away, _but as a Marauder, I could not care less right now_.

Later that day, Remus found out that what the two had broken was a window. They had fixed it with a charm by now, but some pieces of glass had fallen down on the outside and had apparently landed on a student. That earned them two hours of detention with Filch on Friday and 50 points off Gryffindor.

"What were you two dunderheads even doing?"

They shared a quick look before James answered him. "Just trying out a new spell for a prank on Snivellus. We know you don't like involving yourself with those."

Remus raised a questioning brow. "Peter told me you lot were playing exploding snaps when he went to check in on you earlier."

"We did that too!" Sirius jumped in. "But the window broke due to the spell."

"Right." Remus eyed both of them suspiciously.

-

It wasn't until three days later that Remus found out what the two morons were actually doing up in their dorm that was so disruptive. It was explosive, alright. But not exploding snaps.

Remus and Lily were walking down one of the many corridors of Hogwarts, having just left the library together, when Sirius appeared next to him on his other side. He could clearly see James next to Lily, as well. Remus' stomach tightened immediately, knowing that something highly idiotic and unnecessarily public was about to ensue.

"Hi, Lily." James Potter saying Lily's actual name instead of 'Evans' wasn't the most shocking thing that happened at that moment. What really surprised Remus was the loud, explosive sound that occurred above their very heads as flower confetti appeared out of nowhere mixed with magical fireworks that formed the word _LILY_.

"What was that?" Remus asked on instinct, looking up at the now fading fireworks, the flower confetti all over their clothes and floor.

"What was what, Remus?" Sirius asked back, a smile equal to James' on his face.

Now the flower confetti appeared above him and the fireworks formed _REMUS_ instead.

Remus saw Lily's face admiring the spellwork. As were other passing students. It looked like really complicated charms. Only two wizards as irritatingly talented as Sirius Black and James Potter could pull that off at sixteen. However, Remus knew that Lily wouldn't admit that. Not when it was Sirius Black and James Potter.

"So, Remus" _flower confetti,_ REMUS _fireworks_ "are you done studying, yet? We were thinking of raiding the kitchens and playing some gobstones." Sirius continued talking as if nothing out of the ordinary was happening.

"How are the two of you doing this? You're not even holding your wands!" Lily barked at them, dumbfounded.

James smiled innocently at her, a look he had perfected over years and years of Marauder mischief. "We are not doing anything, _Lily_."

Flower confetti. _LILY_ fireworks.

Remus looked at Sirius, then at James, and then lastly back at Sirius. "You... attached the charm to a word. Our names." he concluded. "That is brilliant, actually."

Sirius' smile only widened, his cheeks hurting him by now but he didn't care because _his Moony was so clever and his Moony just called him brilliant_.

"Did we, Remus?" _flower confetti,_ REMUS _fireworks_ "That doesn't really sound like us, Remus." _flower confetti,_ REMUS _fireworks_ "By the way, Remus," _flower confetti,_ REMUS _fireworks_ "you look absolutely smashing today, _Remus_." _flower confetti,_ REMUS _fireworks._

Sirius was having too much fun with this.

"Don't you also think it's brilliant, Evans?" James asked, forgetting to call her Lily. Old habits die hard.

Lily looked at him with a semi-pained expression, clearly conflicted and fighting with herself. "It's... alright." she replied. "But you two made a mess in the corridors." she quickly added.

"Love is a mess, Evans." Sirius retorted cheekily, wrapping an arm around Remus' shoulders.

Sirius was looking up at him expectantly, waiting to see what his overall take of this would be. Should he ask him out again now? Making sure to use his name plenty of times, of course, just to simultaneously amaze and annoy him into saying yes. He would have done just that, however Remus looked deep in thought, unmoving. Sirius didn't want to interrupt him in case Remus was finally realizing that the two of them were meant to be together after all, lycanthropy be damned. He ignored James and Lily bickering in the background and focused solely on Remus' features.

"That's it!" Remus suddenly exclaimed, causing James and Lily to stop talking and look at him as well. Remus turned to look at Sirius, an excited grin on his face. Sirius immediately recognized that grin. He loved that grin. That was Remus' mischievous, prank-plotting grin. "Lets go fetch Peter," he said and looked at James as well "this just gave me an idea for a prank."

And they did just that, bidding Lily farewell and leaving her on the corridor surrounded by flower petals.

The prank was ingenious and with the help of the map they managed to get away with it. It was a close call, however, because Sirius had forgotten to undo the charms on Remus' name and so when he tried to get his attention to ask him something about the spellwork, flower confetti and magical fireworks with Remus' name surrounded them. Luckily James was quick on his feet and undid the fireworks, Peter following in his step and with a flick of his wand vanished the flower petals. It was times like this that secret passageways saved their asses.

Once the four of them made it back to the Gryffindor Common Room, Remus ordered Sirius and James to undo the whole charm, to both him and Lily, which they did.

Sirius was convinced he lost his chance to woo Remus over that particular part of operation 'Amortentia Wishes It Worked This Well', but at the end of the day it was still all worth it. Remus got to enjoy himself with an amazing prank that he came up with, and Sirius knew just how much Remus loved proving to the rest of them that he was more than just the researcher. Making Remus happy was worth losing the date.

 _Besides_ , Sirius thought, _that 'yes' was inevitable. After all, Moony thought Sirius was brilliant..._


	4. Much ado about something

Remus was conflicted. It had been over a week since Sirius had tried anything else to get his attention and 'that inevitable yes'. Sure, it took a while for big romantic gestures to get organized to the point of perfection, but Sirius had also reduced the amount of times he called Remus those ridiculous terms of endearment or hugged Remus- in a brotherly way, of course. That meant one of two things. Either something really big was coming, or Sirius had simply given up on him. So, Remus was conflicted. He was slightly anxious, not knowing what to expect, but he also hated to admit that he felt a bit... sad. Disappointed.

 _Would Sirius give up that easily? Was Remus not worth that much after all?_ He frowned at his thoughts. He knew that this is what he wanted. He should be glad. His condition left him with no prospects outside of Hogwarts, only a life of marginalization and oppression. He was sure to be nothing but a burden to Sirius. And with this war brewing more and more everyday... This is what he told Sirius continuously; to just give up on him. It would be unfair to Sirius if Remus got upset at him for not courting the young werewolf anymore. 

James and Sirius were still having their little private meetings and adventures, of course. They always had those. Yes, the Marauders were a group, they were the closest and best friends Remus could ever dream of having, but James and Sirius had always been different. Those two weren't just friends, they were brothers. Everyone could see that. Sometimes Remus got jealous of the relationship those two had, and he knew that Peter felt that way as well. So all these private escapades were nothing new. It didn't necessarily mean that they were planning something big. Or maybe they were, but not something regarding Remus and Lily.

"You have to admit though, that last prank was pretty hilarious." Mary said as her, Remus, Lily and Marlene were sitting together around the fireplace in the Common Room. Remus liked spending time with the girls, they were a calming alternative for whenever the boys got irritatingly loud.

They were talking of course about James and Sirius and how obnoxious they were. Remus liked listening to people who did not view Sirius Black and James Potter as walking gods for a change. Their popularity as the stunning Quidditch Captain of the undefeated Gryffindor team and the Gryffindor Bad Boy was honestly ridiculous to him. Prongs didn't know how to wash his own underwear and Padfoot was scared of insects, for Merlin's sake!

 _"I'm not_ scared _of them!"_ he could just hear Sirius in his head saying _"I just find them highly disgusting. And you cannot tell me all those little legs are not unsettling!"_ Remus felt himself smile.

Lily rolled her eyes. "I'm just glad they're not putting anyone at risk, anymore." she simply replied, taking a sip from her cup of tea.

"Oh, c'mon Lily, they are not kids anymore." Remus intersected. "We are all more responsible with our practical jokes."

"Remus, I keep forgetting you take part in those." Mary stated, amused.

Marlene snorted. "I don't! Black won't shut up about ' _how brilliant his Moony is_ ' at practice." she imitated a lovestruck version of Sirius as she said. Remus' ears flushed at that but he still rolled his eyes. "Besides, it shows." Marlene continued. "You just know that deep down Remus is a wild one." she winked at him jokingly and Remus winked back with a smirk.

"Careful, Marls. Or your girlfriend might get jealous." Lily teased.

Marlene's smirk widened. "Dorcas knows just how gay I am for her. I could kiss Remus right now and she wouldn't bat an eye."

"Yes, but Black would murder you." Mary was quick to say, amusing everyone but Remus.

"Potter wouldn't let him." Marlene said matter-of-fact-ly. "We have a match against Ravenclaw coming up. Can't go letting your best Beater die."

"Sirius would argue that _he_ is the best Beater on the team." Remus smirked at her once more, highly amused by an image of Sirius' face if he heard her say that.

"Well, he's daft, isn't he?" Marlene was prideful and not hiding it one bit. "He's a pretty talented flier, but everyone knows I'm the best Beater." she then realised something and her smirk quickly fell, a pleading smile on her features "Just don't tell him I said that. We have that match coming up and I don't want him showing off to prove a point, only to muck everything up."

The four agreed on that with shared laughter and continued their conversations. They talked about anything, really. From school assignments and professor gossip, to political views about the recent Muggleborn and Half-blood deaths, to light-hearted conversations about life at Hogwarts again. At some point they somehow landed back on James Potter.

"I'm not saying he is not attractive, I'm simply stating that he's too arrogant for that to matter." Lily argued, her cheeks lightly pink.

Remus thought about his friend. If Lily only knew the real James. The compassionate mother hen who would do anything for his friends, even become an illegal animagus and run around the forest with a dangerous werewolf at full moons. The brave sixteen year old who has already decided that once he leaves Hogwarts, he is going to fight in the war, because to him even if he only manages to save one life before he gets murdered by Death Eaters, then it would have been worth it. The brilliant, kind, loyal boy who was too nice for his own good and who was absolutely in love with Lily Evans, who would die for her in a heartbeat even if she never returned his feelings. "He's not how you paint him to be, though. He's grown up, Lils." Remus finally said.

"And he is mad for you, that one." Mary added. "You have a handsome bloke falling on his knees for you."

Lily's cheeks reddened even more, a dismissive look taking over. "It's just a schoolboy crush."

"Since second year?" Marlene put in. "Not likely."

"Well, it doesn't matter if he likes me." Lily decided. "Because I don't fancy him."

Remus opened his mouth to defend his friend, but ruckus irrupted from behind them. All four turned their heads to see what was happening, only to find a sea of students hovering over the windows and looking outside.

"Oi, Evans!" a fourth year boy called out to Lily with an amused smirk. "I think you should see this."

A few girls were giggling amongst themselves, the word 'Potter' being thrown into the open. Marlene and Mary had already sat up and run to the window, their curiosity taking the best of them. Lily shared a semi-worried and semi-annoyed look with Remus, a frown on her face. Remus couldn't help the amused twitch in his mouth.

"Well, I _am_ a Prefect..." she mumbled an excuse to go check it out, whatever 'it' is. She stood up and started for the window, Remus just behind her.

When they reached the window of the Gryffindor Tower, the students made room for Lily to pass through so she could have the best view. Her eyes widened and her ears reddened as the spectacle she was met with was a yellow lioness made out of magical fireworks dancing through the sky around red magical fireworks. To Lily's surprise, the red ones formed Lily's face, smiling and tugging her hair behind one ear. Lily was so focused on the fireworks themselves, she did not notice James Potter flying nearby them on his broomstick.

Suddenly, Remus could feel someone's presence next to him, and he looked besides him to find a smirking Sirius Black. He winked at Remus and then talked to a mirror in his hand. "She's by the window, Prongs." he said.

Then, it was impossible to ignore James, as he did a loop around the fireworks, waved his wand at them to make them disappear and rapidly flew lower to the ground, passing by the grass and waving his wand around. Flowers started growing on the grass, in a position that from where everyone stood on the window formed the words ' _DATE? -J'_. James then flew exactly outside the window, spotting where Lily stood and flying in front of her. He saw her stunned face, run a hand through his hair, winked at her, and then flew away again.

Lily was frozen still. Her face was as red as her hair and her eyes wide open. It took everything in Remus not to laugh at her face. He wished he had a camera at hand, capture this perfect moment. _Prongs would probably put the picture next to his bed_ , he thought.

"He's going to land on the Quidditch field." Everyone went silent as Sirius said, looking at Lily all smug and proud. "Can probably catch him on your way there, give him your answer."

Lily had still not spoken. Everyone was looking at her expectantly, most of them whispering amongst their friends.

"C'mon, then!" Mary all but dragged her outside the Common Room, Marlene following suit.

The students were slowly dismantling, either continuing their day normally or still gossiping about what Potter just did. Remus turned to look at Sirius again, a teasing smirk on his face.

"What, then? No flowers for me this time?" Remus told himself that he was just teasing, that he wasn't actually dying to know whether Sirius' feelings for him were still the same.

Sirius returned the smirk, only that in Remus' opinion, Sirius' smirk was better. Much more beautiful. "No need to get jealous, Moony. I was just helping James with this one." he locked his gaze on Remus, a spark of passion evident behind his grey eyes. "Your time is coming. I've got something in the works for you too, my love."

And then, he just walked off. Leaving Remus there with that sentence. _The nerve_ , Remus thought, _what a theatrical, dramatic, dimwitted, little fuck! Who was he to just torture Remus like that for a week and then dare call him 'his love'?!_

Remus had to snap himself out of it. Had to remind himself that he hadn't been tortured, because he hadn't cared. He wasn't allowed to care.

So Sirius was working on something for Remus as well. No big deal. Remus would just brush it off like everything else.

Remus looked at the back of Sirius' head from across the room, determination in his eyes. _Bring it_ , he thought.


	5. From yes to no

Two weeks had passed since James' spectacular fireworks display and the majority of the school was still talking about it. Remus was pretty sure he heard Professor Flitwick and Madam Hooch discussing it as well, Professor Sprout even pairing James and Lily together for a project with a knowing smile. James was beaming with happiness when he noticed just how red Lily got when she was seated next to him at Herbology for said project. Students were expected to act like this, but seeing that the professors did as well really amused Remus.

It wasn't simply the romantic gesture or loud proclamation that had everyone gossiping, but the answer as well. All four Marauders, James included, were surprised to hear what Lily's answer was.

"A _month_!" James fell down on his bed dramatically. "No pranks for a _whole month_ and she says she'll go out with me!"

Needless to say that Sirius was not entirely happy with that condition. "Not even if it's harmless fun?" he frowned as he asked.

James shook his head, conflicted emotions running through him. He wanted that date with Lily more than anything in the world, but then again...

"But Halloween's coming up!" Peter said what everyone was thinking. "It's Marauders tradition to pull a big prank on Halloween."

Remus disliked the idea of missing out on their tradition as much as everyone else in the group, but he also knew just how enamored his mate was with Lily. "If it'll get you that date..." he offered James a soft, supporting smile.

James smiled back at him, suddenly more content with breaking the Marauders' annual tradition. Peter noticed this and shut his mouth, nodding his head hesitantly and mustering a smile of his own. After all, he wasn't about to get on James' bad side.

Sirius was the only one who still looked like he wanted to argue, sending Remus a shocked and disapproving look and then facing James again. "Is she really more important than the Marauders?!" Sirius lost control on his emotions as he asked.

Remus and Peter shared a worried look, knowing very well that Sirius shouldn't have asked that. Remus knew that Sirius was a sensitive idiot and often spoke without thinking, especially if he felt threatened. James was Sirius' last chance at a family, after all. The Marauders were Sirius' last chance at a family. To him, this was about more than just a silly prank.

Luckily, James remained calm, knowing all this about Sirius as well. He looked at Sirius' angered, betrayed face and calmly asked him back "Is Moony?"

Remus' cheeks flushed pink at James' words but they seemed to work nonetheless as all hurt emotions left Sirius' expression, closing his mouth and side glancing at Remus. He then looked back at his best mate, apologetically. "We'll just have to plan something even better for next year, then." he smiled at them, mischief returning to his features.

The other three smiled back at him with the same kind of mischief, dissolving all tension that was previously there.

"That is, if Lily doesn't make him prim and proper by then." Remus teased.

"Oi!" James threw a pillow at Remus, Remus' quick animalistic reflexes catching it mid-air. "Watch your mouth, you prick!"

-

October 31st was just a week away and James had been on his best behaviour. Sometimes it was very hard for him not to hex any Slytherins who used the Dark Lord's current rise as an excuse to terrorize younger students. Due to that, Sirius' detentions had become more and more common, having to hex them by himself without any cover, and as a result getting caught more. James felt a bit guilty for that but Sirius didn't mind. _"Anything to spite my pureblood supremacist family"_ he'd say. Besides, whatever guilt James felt was easily forgotten every time Lily actually smiled at him.

This whole ordeal suited Remus as well. Everyone was too focused on making sure James didn't do anything stupid that it distracted Remus from his paranoia about Sirius' next romantic gesture. _"Your time is coming. I've got something in the works for you too, my love."_ Sirius' words still rung in Remus' head.

Seeing just how big and public James' gesture to Lily was, Remus feared that Sirius' would be even more ridiculously so. Sirius was more theatrical, more expressive and he loved attention twice as much as the Gryffindor Quidditch Captain. However, attention was something Remus absolutely did _not_ want. So he had been very paranoid, not knowing what to expect next from the disowned Black.

Remus was walking down one of the hallways on the fourth floor, trying to get from one class to another, when he heard Lily's angered voice lecturing someone. Thinking it was probably a Prefect thing, he approached her voice, ready to calm her down and decide on how many points to take from whoever was in trouble. Just as he spotted her red hair, a worried frown appeared on his face as he heard the surname of the person she had been scolding. 

"You just _had_ to show off, didn't you Potter?" he heard her say, and as he got closer he spotted James and Sirius in front of her.

"It's not about showing off and you know it, Evans!" Sirius argued back, for some reason fury in his eyes, his whole body trembling with anger.

Lily pinched the top of her nose before she replied. "You shouldn't respond to their provocations! That's what they want from us, to get in trouble by falling down on their level!" she looked back at them, now both angry and disappointed. "I know first-hand how Mulciber and his friends can be-"

"This wasn't about fucking Mulciber and his stupid blood supremacy! So just fuck off and stop acting like you know everything!" Remus was very shocked with just how angry Sirius was. "And stop excluding Snivellus from everything! Cutting ties with him isn't enough to cure your little guilt, you have to call him out on his bullshit as well!"

Remus made himself known just as James placed a hand on Sirius' shoulder to calm him down. Before Remus could ask what had happened though, he was more shocked to hear James talking back at Lily, anger also evident behind his eyes, even if he spoke calmly.

"Why don't you just leave, Evans? You already took points off from us. Spare us the lecture."

 _Now_ Remus was really shocked. James would never talk to Lily like that, never want her to leave like that.

"What happened?" he finally spoke up.

Lily turned to look at him flustered and frustrated, then looked back at James and Sirius, and then run off the other way, ignoring Remus.

"What did you two do? What did Mulciber and Snape do?" Remus was very concerned. James looked upset, looking at Lily's leaving figure, the anger subsiding and making room for worry, realizing he just lost his date with her. Sirius' anger did not subside, however. If anything, it only worsened upon seeing Remus, as if being reminded of something. 

"Snivellus." was all Sirius managed to say.

Remus looked at James for clarification. James sighed, hand still on Sirius' shoulder, trying to calm him down. "Snape said some things about you..." he told Remus. "About, you know, your furry little problem." he felt the need to add.

Remus' mouth dropped lightly in realization, unknowingly making an 'O' face. Snape's hatred for Remus had only become more evident ever since The Prank last year. Remus tried not to think about The Prank too much. Tried not to remember how much it caused him to hate himself or how furious he had been with Sirius. It was so hard to forgive him after what he tried to pull, but at the same time it was so _easy_ because it was Sirius and he hated that almost as much as he hated his lycanthropy.

Remus looked back at Sirius now, certain that he must have landed Snape in the hospital wing, seeing just how pissed off he was. Remus then remembered the date with Lily again and looked back at James. "You should have just ignored him, Prongs. What about your date with Lily?"

James managed to smile at Remus, though he seemed worried about it as well. "The things he was saying, Remus... and then Mulciber appeared and started making things worse, attacking Sirius as well." Remus quickly glanced at Sirius again. Mulciber must have said something about his family, that always got to him. "I can win that 'yes' again, but the Marauders come first." James said with love and pride, trying to show both Remus and Sirius that he did not regret his decision.

Remus felt like he should say something back. Anything. Just to defuse the tension, just to make the other two, especially Sirius, feel better. But he didn't know what to say. He felt guilty for causing James his chance with Lily, but he also felt angry. He knew that if he were there when Mulciber started having a go at Sirius, he would have done much worse than just hex him. Remus found himself with the urge to run at Sirius and hug him, but he managed to contain himself.

Luckily, James Potter always knew just what to say. He offered the two of them a small smirk and said "C'mon, lads, we only have a week to plan the Halloween prank now."

-

There wasn't a lot the four of them could do on such short notice for something that was supposed to be so big, so they decided to focus on strategy rather than magic. They convinced the Hogwarts House-Elves to help and nicked some potion ingredients from Professor Slughorn's classroom. The latter indicated potion making, which meant that Remus and Peter who were both rubbish at Potions were to leave all the work to James and Sirius. The potion was ready by Halloween morning, as they had purposely picked a potion that would only need a week or less to be brewed, and with the help of the map Peter and Remus managed to sneak into the kitchens undetected for phase two. By the time of the Halloween Feast, every single person (Professors included) had grown pig snouts shortly after trying their food and drinks. Another successful Halloween prank, 50 points off each and detention every Friday for three weeks.

In all the rush and excitement of the Halloween prank, Remus had forgotten about Sirius' promised love proclamation. That was until two days later on November 2nd, just a day before Sirius' 17th birthday.

"Moony!" Sirius wrapped an arm around Remus, who had just entered the Gryffindor Common Room with Marlene. "Go off and snog your girlfriend, McKinnon, I need to talk to my Moony."

"What if I don't feel like sharing Remus right now?" Marlene challenged Sirius with a smirk for her own amusement.

At her words, Sirius' arm moved down to Remus' waist, side hugging him and pulling him closer to Sirius' body in a childishly possessive way. He sent a soft glare her way.

Marlene's smirk only widened at Sirius' reaction, but Remus sighed and spoke up before she could mess with him more. "Marls, do me a favour and don't wind him up this close to his birthday. You know how maddening he gets."

Sirius let out a loud (and clearly fake) gasp. "What are you insinuating, Lupin?!"

Remus smirked at him. "I do not recall insinuating anything. I outright stated you are borderline irritating, _Black_."

Before Sirius could reply, Marlene spoke up again. "I'll take kissing my lovely girlfriend over seeing you two play pretend banter like a sickening couple any day. See you later, Remus." she exited the Common Room, even though she had just entered it, probably heading towards the Ravenclaw Tower to find Dorcas.

Remus tried to ignore her words but couldn't really do that with Sirius' arm still wrapped around his waist. He hoped his ears feeling hot didn't mean that they had reddened.

"Right then." Sirius spoke up, unwrapping his hand from Remus' body and instead taking a hold of Remus' wrist. "I have something waiting on your bed for you!" he said and proceeded to drag Remus all the way to their dormitory.

 _Their dormitory_ , Remus thought, mind back at Sirius' ridiculous attempts to get a date with him, _good, that meant it wouldn't be embarrassingly public._

When they stepped into their dormitory Remus' eyes quickly landed on his bed with worry, not knowing what to expect. He turned to raise a confused brow at Sirius next to him when he found a mountain of chocolate candy from Honeydukes. Chocoballs, Chocolate Cauldrons, Chocolate Frogs, Chocolate Wands, anything and everything chocolate just sitting there on his bed. Remus never thought he would say this but there was just _too much_ chocolate! It covered the whole bed and it was a miracle it even fit it all. All this chocolate must have cost Sirius a lot of money to buy.

"Sirius, I..." Remus was stuck still, eyes widened as he stared at all the chocolate sweets. He then looked at Sirius again, only to find him smiling. "How-How many-"

"One hundred and thirty nine exactly." Sirius said proudly.

The number seemed very specific. Why not round it up to 140? Or stop at a perfect 100? Why had Sirius chosen to buy him that much chocolate?

As if listening to Remus' thoughts, Sirius spoke up again. "I know how much you love chocolate and how much it helps you after a full moon so I..." Sirius was now getting slightly sheepish, a light pink forming across his cheeks, but still stubbornly and proudly continuing his explanation. "I sat down and calculated."

"Calculated what?"

Sirius looked at his feet and then back up at Remus, staring into Remus' eyes as if they were the most beautiful thing in the world. "I know we became animagi to help you during full moons, but I always hate thinking about you having to deal with them alone before that. I hate thinking about what your first transformation must have been like, you were so young... only five. And back then you were so alone, before Hogwarts. I wish I could have known you sooner. Been there for every full moon you had to endure." Remus didn't know where Sirius was going with this but he could feel tears threatening to build up in his eyes. "Even now, I know it's better for you with us but that doesn't mean it's good. The thought that there's really nothing more I can do..." Sirius closed his eyes, pain clear in his voice, but then he opened them again and looked at Remus with so much love that Remus could have melt then and there. "But I love you, Moony, and I don't care about your condition. This is my way of showing to you that I want to be there for you no matter that. I want to be there for you for every single full moon." he took a step closer, taking a hold of Remus' hands. Remus stood speechless and unmoving, staring right back at Sirius as he spoke. "One hundred and thirty nine. That's how many full moons you had to endure up to this point. That's how many bloody awful and painful transformations you had to go through, most of them without us."

 _Sirius Fucking Black_ , Remus found himself thinking, _the smooth, romantic fucker_.

Remus always had a witty reply or sarcastic comment, but once again he found himself unable to speak in the presence of Sirius Orion Black. His brain had short-circuited, his heart beating quicker and louder by the minute. What _the fuck_ was he supposed to say to that??! Sirius had bought him a chocolate for every bloody full moon he had experienced ever since he became a werewolf! Sirius was standing in front of him, telling him how much he loves and cares for him, telling him that he truly didn't care about his condition with such sincerity. Remus found himself questioning everything he ever said about the two of them.

"I don't doubt you'll manage to eat it all before it expires." Sirius chuckled, pulling him away form his thoughts before he could reach a decision.

"Sirius..." he heard himself utter, but didn't know what he was going to say next.

Sirius didn't wait to find out. Instead, he took initiative. "My birthday's tomorrow." he stated what they both already knew. "I think you know what birthday present I want from you." he winked at Remus, and started for the door with a quick "Enjoy the chocolate!" before closing the door behind him, leaving Remus alone in the dormitory.

"Ok..." he mumbled out loud after a few minutes of silence, looking at the mountain of chocolate candy on his bed and deciding to deal with this one problem at a time. "Where do I put all this chocolate tonight?"

-

Remus was equally scared and excited. He had barely slept the previous night but now, at November 3rd 1976, on Sirius Black's 17th birthday, Remus had made his decision. He knew how dangerous it would be and he knew how little he had to offer Sirius, but Sirius obviously didn't care. Sirius wanted to be with Remus, and Remus was ready to admit that he also really, _really_ wanted to be with Sirius. So he wasn't just going to say yes to that date, but he planned to have some fun with the whole thing. He had decided to act how he normally would for the whole day, as if the chocolate thing never happened, throw Sirius completely off, and then that night at Sirius' party at the Gryffindor Common Room, he would catch him off guard by snogging the hell out of him. He would have to drink some firewhiskey first, for a confidence boost, but he was going to do it.

That morning at breakfast most of the students sang Happy Birthday to Sirius, James making sure to use the Sonorous Charm and Sirius acting more dramatic and flamboyant than usual. Every time he entered or left a room small red and gold fireworks would take off behind him, something he kept insisting was James' doing and not his own, even thought everyone knew better. Remus tried not to look at Sirius too much because he noticed he couldn't help blushing every time he met his eyes, imagining what it would be like to finally kiss Sirius that night.

It wasn't until the mail had arrived that Remus' newfound positive perspective in life was shattered. James, Sirius and Peter all looked at Remus with concern when they were all reading the Daily Prophet, as they always did when werewolves were involved. Apparently, some Aurors restrained a werewolf pack that had been accused of working for Voldemort. They were to receive trial at the Ministry, silver punishments awaiting them. News like that only worsened the stigma surrounding lycanthropy. The more werewolves joined the Dark Lord, thinking he could give them the rights that the Wizarding World took from them, the more the people demanded for stricter legislations for werewolf control. Reading about all that was enough to remind Remus just how foolish he had been. Sirius was wonderful, which is why he deserved better.

"It's fine." Remus reassured his friends with a fake smile, just as they were all heading to their first class of the day. "Today is a day for celebrations." he then smirked at Sirius, who smiled back at him, though he was clearly still worried for Remus.

The party at the Gryffindor Common Room was so great it could almost challenge some of the wildest parties Hufflepuff threw. The music was loud, the alcohol was plentiful and everyone wanted to have fun and forget all about school and most importantly, the war outside of it. Remus was watching Sirius dance and sing drunkenly to ABBA's Dancing Queen.

 _"_ I AM THE DANCING QUEEEEN! YOOOUNG AND SWEEEEET! OOONLY SEVENTEEEEEEEEEN!"

Remus couldn't help but smile at the sight of him. He tried not to think too hard about the fact that earlier that day he was considering kissing Sirius Black in the mouth. He then thought about all the chocolate that was in his trunk at their dormitory. He had eaten some of it, but there was still too much left, so he charmed his trunk to fit it all in. Remus felt like he still had to get Sirius something in return as a thank you, but didn't know what else to do. He didn't have that much money, and all Sirius really wanted was-

Remus focused at Sirius again, taking one more sip of his firewhiskey and marching over to the drunk birthday boy.

"Moonyyyy!" Sirius exclaimed happily as he spotted him. "Come dance with me!" he almost lost his balance but quickly caught himself.

Remus let out a chuckle, highly amused by Sirius' drunken state. He could still function, which was always good. Remus had seen him so hammered once that he couldn't speak or stand, only let drool escape him. "You know I don't like dancing, Pads." 

"But Moony!" he looked almost hurt. "It's mah birthday!"

"I know." Remus' smile widened. He then grabbed Sirius' chin in one hand, kept him steady in one place, and leaned in to place a quick kiss on his cheek. "Happy Birthday, Padfoot." he said softly next to his ear.

Sirius smiled as widely as humanly possible, his face turning red. He stood there in the middle of the dancing crowd, staring at Remus with so much love. All those sudden emotions mixed with the copious amounts of alcohol he had consumed didn't seem to sit well on his stomach, as that moment the red on his face became green and he quickly turned the other way to throw up.

"SIRIUS ORION BLACK!" Mary's new shoes were the poor victims of Sirius' vomit. "I AM GOING TO KILL YOU!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That moment when you have to calculate how many full moons took place between March 1965 and October 1976 because you are writing about fictional characters and one of them happens to be a sad gay werewolf.


	6. Idiots in love

For once in his life Sirius was actually looking forward to Winter Break, because this year he would spend it with the Potters instead of with his awful family. Truth be told, it would not be the first time he would stay at James' house over the holidays, as he usually went there for Boxing Day and remained with them until the start of spring term. James' parents would treat him as their own and would always make sure to get him presents (with him getting them presents back), and then Sirius and James would return to Hogwarts together. This year, however, Sirius would not have to wait until Boxing Day to see the Potters. Now that Sirius was disowned and legally lived with the Potters, he would get to spent the whole break there and it would feel even more like he's part of the family, like he is loved for simply being himself.

The only downside to Winter Break (the same downside as every year), was that he wouldn't get to see Remus as much as he'd like. Sure, both Remus and Peter always made sure to floo to the Potters' at some point over the holidays so the four boys can meet, or sometimes the lot would make plans to meet in Diagon Alley, and both James and Sirius always made the others promise to write them letters. But to Sirius it was still not the same as waking up every morning to find Remus already there, either sleeping with drool coming out of his mouth or reading a book under his covers with Lumos, probably not even having slept at all.

That was what Sirius was thinking as the four boys sat around the fireplace in the Common Room, talking about the upcoming holidays. It was a snow day, something that James wasn't particularly thrilled about as he wanted to go for a quick fly on his broomstick, but both Remus and Marlene had to knock some sense into him and remind him that if he got sick he would have to miss Quidditch practice.

"What do you reckon I should get Evans for Christmas?"

"A break from you would be lovely." Remus answered James' question, seemingly indifferent as he was concentrating on the match of wizarding chess he was having with Peter on the floor. He moved his knight to intimidate Peter's king, but forgot about Peter's rook, so upon Peter's command the rook gladly destroyed Remus' knight.

"Oi! I only asked her out _once_ since Padfoot's birthday and have been nothing but a gentleman!"

Sirius snorted. "Just this morning you dropped a book on her feet."

James flushed pink in embarrassment. "She appeared out of nowhere and I panicked! I was not ready for her ethereal beauty."

"And apparently she wasn't ready for that book." Sirius retorted with an amused smirk, rejoicing in the memory of Lily Evans cussing loudly.

Remus hammed in agreement. "But she more than was ready to retaliate, wasn't she, Prongs?" he tried not to smile but the tips of his lips were on the verge of turning upright. "Who would have thought House-Elf ears suited you so well?"

James' hands subconsciously went up to touch his now human again ears, his blush only darkening as he glared at his friends.

"Check mate." came Peter's voice and Remus looked at the chess board again.

"Two out of three?" he asked Peter, who nodded in agreement and the two started repositioning the pieces on the board.

"Good one, Pete." came Sirius' voice.

James ignored them all and started talking about Lily again. "Back to my present-giving situation, lads!"

Peter smiled at Sirius, happy to get a compliment on anything, even though he knew that Sirius probably only complimented his win to agitate Remus. Peter then turned to look at James, leaving Remus to contemplate his next move. "What did you get her last year?"

"A book on potions and some chocolate."

"The book was my idea." Sirius chimed in proudly. "Little miss Slug Club princess is even more of a teacher's pet at potions than Snivellus." he then added.

James shot Sirius a glare. "Oi! Don't compare her to that greasy git!" he reached for a pillow from the couch behind him and threw it at Sirius' face. "And it's not her fault she's so brilliant at potions. Slughorn is the one who favours students, she did nothing wrong."

"Just buy her jewelry or something." Remus intervened, trying to prevent a pillow fight from taking place. "She is incredibly smart and mature, but as the dollop head that you are Prongs, you keep forgetting that she's also just a girl."

James and Sirius paused their fighting, looked at Remus and then at each other. "Jewelry." James exclaimed, slightly dumbfounded. "Of course!"

Sirius placed the pillow James had thrown at him on his lap to rest his elbows on as his palms held his face. A teasing smirk appeared on his features as he leaned slightly towards Remus. "Shall I get you jewelry as well, then?"

Remus knew that Sirius was joking, but he also knew that this was a subtle attempt for Sirius to find out what Remus wanted for Christmas. "You lot promised not to get me anything." he stated firmly as a reminder.

"I know, but Moony-"

" _No_ , Sirius. You know my rules. You and James always end up going overboard because neither of you have any control when it comes to spending money, and then I feel like shit." It was times like this that being friends with two overly wealthy morons only reminded Remus of how little he had to offer.

Sirius tried his best puppy dog eyes, which ironically, he did splendidly. "What if I promise to-"

" _Pads_." Remus' firm tone shut Sirius right away. It was what Sirius liked to call Remus' Teacher Voice, and big part of why he would often tease him about becoming a teacher at Hogwarts, even if Remus would always shut down the suggestion. _"Who would want a werewolf to teach their children?"_ he'd say.

But Sirius really loved that firm tone of voice. Maybe he loved it a bit _too much_. He was suddenly glad he had the pillow on his lap.

"Fine." he managed to mutter, trying to distract himself. "I suppose you don't really need a present when you are already blessed enough to have _me_ as one of your best friends." the smirk returned to his smug face.

Remus rolled his eyes but didn't respond, focusing on the game in front of him.

"Not to mention all that chocolate you already bought him..." Peter muttered back before telling his bishop to go to B4.

Remus kept his eyes glued on the chess board. He tried not to think that much about the chocolate, because that always made him remember that he kissed Sirius' cheek on his birthday and that Remus was at first considering to do much more than just a kiss on the cheek.

Sirius must have been thinking the same because Remus could just feel the idiot grinning like crazy.

"Which reminds me," James spoke up and focused his gaze on Sirius. "we have that thing to finish." he couldn't be any less discreet.

"Right." Sirius replied, nodding his head only lightly. "The thing." they both then turned to face the other two. "You two finish your match, we're gonna head over to the dorm." Sirius said.

Remus already knew that this was going to be another ridiculous love confession in the making. "Just don't blow anything up."

"Or break any windows!" Peter was quick to add.

"I cannot believe you have such little faith is us." Sirius threw the pillow he was holding at Peter as he stood up next to James.

Peter duck out of the way at the last minute, the pillow hitting the armchair behind him instead.

"I have the exact amount of faith in you two morons that I should." Remus replied. "Pawn to E6."

James grabbed Sirius' arm before he could retort and dragged him up the Marauders dormitory in a hurry.

Peter smiled. "Knight to E6."

-

"Are you two _studying_?" Remus was surprised to find James and Sirius in the Study Hall the next day, writing with great concentration on pieces of parchment. The room itself was relatively empty, only two Hufflepuffs and a small group of mixed House seventh years occupying it. Remus himself preferred studying either in the library or in his dormitory, but the Study Hall was always less crowed than usual around Winter Break and it was closer than the library, so he found himself going there that day. However, he did not expect to find his two dormmates there.

James waved his wand, undoing the Muffliato charm that surrounded them, and Sirius casually placed part of his robe on top of the parchment, covering it ever so subtly.

"Don't act so surprised, Moony. We have NEWTs next year, after all." James replied nonchalantly.

"I know that." Remus retorted, sitting down opposite from the two and setting his books on the table. "I just wasn't aware you did." 

Sirius smirked at that. "It is no secret that both James and I could pass any test without studying because we're just _that_ much talented and brilliant," he started and Remus already felt the urge to roll his eyes, even though it was true, "but as you always tell us, NEWTs are just too important. If we don't start studying from now then we might end up getting some Es instead of straight Os."

James smirked. "The only kind of straight Sirius can ever accomplish." 

"Oi!"

The two started play fighting, huge challenging smiles on their faces as they nudged and poked each other, but their childish demeanor did not distract Remus from the queries still in his head.

"So you suddenly decided to start studying for next year's exams... just as Winter Break is nearing, to top it all off?"

"Basically, yes." "Exactly."

Remus opened his mouth but did not manage to say anything more as a sweet, female voice was heard from the entrance.

"There you are, Potter!" Remus turned to see Emmeline Vance, a brilliant witch from Ravenclaw who was a year older than them, walking towards the three of them. Some of the other students in the room sent her glares for being that loud, so she looked at the apologetically and lowered the tone of her voice as soon as she was standing next to where James was sitting. "I found myself with free time and was wondering if you want to go now instead?" she told James with a questioning tone at the end.

Remus looked at Sirius puzzled to see if he knew what Vance was going on about, only to find that Sirius was avoiding his gaze.

James looked at Sirius, who nodded at him in affirmation, and then looked back at Emmeline with a huge smile. "Fine by me." he stood up, grabbing the pieces of parchment from under Sirius' robe. "See you later, lads!" he said excitedly and left the room with the Ravenclaw.

If Remus hadn't known just how hopelessly in love James was with Lily, he would have thought that maybe he was going to have a snogging session or something, seeing just how excited he was. But that obviously could not be the case.

"What was that about?" Remus asked Sirius the moment the other two left.

Sirius shrugged nonchalantly. "Probably a tutoring session or something." 

Remus looked unconvinced. "Right."

-

Tutoring session was exactly what James answered Remus when Remus asked him about it as well. Though for some reason, Remus noted, James had difficulty remembering exactly for what subject.

"A little bit of all." James said then, unconvincingly.

Remus raised a brow at him. "Since when do you need tutoring?"

James had failed to give Remus a satisfying answer, only coming up with multiple weak excuses.

Perhaps if he hadn't been so tired from the full moon, Remus would care more, but evidently he didn't. So he simply dropped the subject, deciding he did not care enough.

On the last day before Winter Break, Remus found himself walking into the Great Hall for lunch with Peter, Mary and Lily only to find a group of students gathering in a big circle at the end of the tables, where the choir usually sang on special feasts. Curious as ever, the four of them approached the loud crowd. As they came closer, Remus spotted what everyone had been looking at. It was a black, beautiful grand piano, and as they neared it more, Remus could see familiar black curls behind it.

"Is that Black?" Mary asked, causing an unsettling feeling in Remus' stomach. 

Remus was too busy trying to catch a clear glimpse of Sirius' face to notice James approaching them with purpose, but was soon made aware of him as he grabbed Remus' right arm with one hand and held Lily's left hand with the other, dragging them past the crowd of people, just in front of the piano. Upon spotting the two of them, Sirius' smile widened. Then, Emmeline Vance handed James an acoustic guitar.

Before Remus' thoughts could catch up with everything, James muttered "Two, three, four..." and the two started playing simultaneously.

James started singing, looking at Lily dead in the eyes, making sure not to break contact and allowing his love and longing for her to show.

"I've been an idiot in the past,  
And I still kind of am,  
But I'm an idiot in love."

Remus couldn't tell if James' singing voice was good or not, he only knew that it wasn't terrible.

"I'm so confident and cool,  
But one look from you,  
And I fall down on my arse."

He winked at her, and Remus was certain that James wanted to run his hand through his hair but couldn't because he was using both hands to play the guitar. _Since when does James know how to play the guitar?_ Remus found himself wondering.

"Oh, oh, oh."

James walked right in front of Lily and leaned a bit close to her, but made sure to give her plenty of personal space. The melody changed a bit.

"Please give me a chance,  
To give you all that I have,  
Give you all that I am."

"Please give me a chance to,  
Hold your lovely hand,  
Give me a chance."

James winked once more and started walking backwards. He nodded at Remus to look over at Sirius, and Remus did just that as Sirius now started singing form where he sat on the piano, the melody changing back to the starting one.

"I can be your lucky star,  
With just one yes I'm yours, hon,  
I'm an idiot in love."

Sirius' voice was more melodic than James'. Not that he was particularly good either, just that he had more control. Most likely due to his musical upbringing as the heir to the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black. Remus could not stop staring at Sirius.

"Should know you deserve the world,  
I can give you that and more,  
Let me love you mi amor."

 _Fuck_ , Remus had forgotten that Sirius had French roots and thus grew up speaking the language fluently.

"Oh, oh, oh."

Another change in the melody.

"Please give me a chance,  
To give you all that I have,  
Give you all that I am."

"Please give me a chance to,  
Kiss your lovely hand,  
Give me a chance."

James and Sirius shared a quick smirk as James was now standing right next to the piano, and the two started singing together.

"So Lily and Moony."

James locked eyes with Lily once more and Sirius with Remus.

"Please give us a chance,  
To give you all that we have,  
Give you all that we are."

A lovely, harmonized 'yeah' filled the small gap this time before:

"Please give us a chance to,  
Hold you in our arms  
Give us a chance..."

As soon as the song stopped, red and gold fireworks filled the already enchanted ceiling and the entirety of the Great Hall (minus some Slytherins) started clapping and cheering. Professor Dumbledore even stood up from his seat and clapped, which made Remus realise that some of the Professors were also there. A big blush appeared on his cheeks upon that realization.

Peter was amongst those who cheered the loudest, and oddly so was Vance. Remus heard her cheer something along the lines of 'James' guitar lessons paying off well'.

" _Sonorus."_ came Dumbledore's voice and the room fell silent. "We thank Mr. Potter and Mr. Black for that _unauthorized_ but delightful performance. Now, I expect for the instruments to be returned back to the Music Classroom. The rest of the students may return to their food."

James and Sirius shared proud grins and fist bumped. The crowd of students complimented the two one last time before breaking into small groups that walked to sit on their respective House tables, small mutter filling the room once again. Only Remus, Lily, Peter, Mary, Emmeline, and Marlene and Dorcas (who Mary had found in the crowd) stayed with James and Sirius around the grand piano.

"That was great!" Peter's smile widened as he stared at James with his usual Potter-worship.

Marlene chuckled lightly, an arm wrapped around her girlfriend's waste. "I had no idea Potter had a musical calling." she teased him.

"Oh, trust me, he doesn't." came Emmeline's voice. She walked over to James and grabbed the guitar from him. "It almost looked like a lost cause, teaching him. But he managed it, in the end." she nudged him on his shoulder with a playful (and maybe even proud) smile.

Lily finally spoke, still staring only at James, her voice coming out soft and somewhat shy. "You learned how to play the guitar just for this?" 

"For you." James replied without hesitation, causing Lily to look away as her ears and cheeks became light pink.

Sirius stood up and walked next to James' side, wrapping an arm around his shoulder in a brotherly way. "Told the dolt I could carry the melody on my own, but he insisted a piano wasn't enough."

"How did you even get it down here? The Music Classroom is on the fifth floor corridor!" Dorcas looked at the big piano, amazed.

Sirius raised a smug eyebrow in response, took out his wand and pointed it at the piano as he said " _Reducio_!"

"The Shrinking Charm, I see." came a new voice from behind them, and they all turned to find Professor Flitwick standing there. "Interesting choice, but how were you two certain you would not damage the instrument in the process?"

Sirius picked up the now miniature piano and put it in the pocket of his robe. He shared a sheepish look with James before James answered an honest "We didn't."

Sirius smiled mischievously at the short Professor. "In our group we believe in trial and error."

An amused smile broke into the Professor's face, always one to appreciate the Marauders' works (when not dangerous and harmful). "Now then, return the instruments back to the Music Classroom as the Headmaster instructed, and the next time you two feel the need to explore your musical talents, you are always welcomed to come to me for the Frog Choir." upon his last words both James and Sirius' smiles fell a bit. The last thing they wanted was for Flitwick to want them in his Frog Choir. "Off you go, then."

The two nodded at him and obeyed, James grabbing the guitar back from Vance.

"You can tell me how much you loved it later." Sirius told Remus with a smug smirk as he passed him.

"You too, Evans!" James chimed in and the duo left the Great Hall.

-

The next day, Peter, Remus and Sirius found themselves sitting in their usual compartment in the Hogwarts Express as they were finally leaving the castle for the holidays.

"MOONY!" Remus' sensitive ears hurt as James called out his name loudly the moment he entered the compartment. He was holding a piece of paper and held it up to Remus, a stupid grin adoring his features. "You have to show me how to use a muggle telephone!" he exclaimed frantically, sitting across from Remus and pleading with his eyes.

"What?" needless to say that Remus, just like the rest of them, was confused.

A soft pink blush appeared on James' face but his grin never left. "Evan- _Lily_ just told me she wanted to try being friends and she gave me this number which apparently I need in order to contact her on her family telephone because her sister's muggle boyfriend will be visiting her family for Christmas and they decided not to have too many owls flying around so I need you to show me how the telephone works so I call talk with her over the holidays!" he said very quickly in one breath.

Sirius let a chuckle escape him. "Nice one, Prongs. She's finally warming up to you! Told you the song would work." he wrapped an arm around Remus' neck upon his last sentence.

Remus rolled his eyes. "First of, the song had nothing to do with it, Lily decided James wasn't an 'arrogant git' anymore when he used only defensive spells to protect those second years from Mulciber's group a few days ago."

"And you didn't tell me-"

"Secondly," Remus ignored James as he continued, "I do not understand why _you_ are so smug about it" he looked at Sirius as he said "since I don't recall that song changing anything for you." he stated, knowing it was a bit cold of him but deciding to get his point across.

Sirius shook his head lightly, the smile never leaving his features. "You said my voice was amazing though."

"I said it was nice."

"And you said I was an extraordinary piano player."

"I specifically recall teasing you about being too posh due to your upbringing, and zero compliments about your piano playing skills."

Sirius shrugged calmly. "The compliment was implied."

A small chuckle escaped Remus, genuine amusement in his voice. "Your ego really _is_ that massive."

"Oh," Sirius leaned closer, both of them ignoring the other two boys in the compartment, "you have no idea just how _massive_ it is." he winked at Remus.

Remus, having realised the innuendo, threw Sirius' arm away from his body and turned to face James, casually explaining at once how muggle telephones work, as if Sirius did not say anything at all.

 _At least over the holidays he could take a small break from Sirius Black_ , Remus thought. But the moment he arrived at his house with his parents, he found himself missing Sirius already.

_I can be your lucky star_  
_With just one yes I'm yours, hon_  
_I'm an idiot in love_

He hadn't realised he had been humming the melody. A smile escaped him against his better judgement. _Truly, an idiot in love_ , he thought.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fun fact, I wrote the song long before I even started writing this fanfiction, back when I was still only coming up with ideas for the two idiots to execute. I even recorded it when I was bored.  
> -  
> At the part where James and Sirius fist bumped I was originally going to have them high five, but apparently the high five was invented in October 2, 1977. I can't believe they grew up without it XD.  
> (Also the fist bump was invented in the 1970s, so it's fairly new to them. That is, if the Wizarding World even adopted popular muggle gestures that quickly).


	7. All bark and no bite

There was strong intend in Remus' steps as he walked down the Hogwarts Express in search for the Marauders' usual train compartment, and that intend was not to be joyously reunited with his three best friends after the Winter Break. No, that intend was to hex Sirius Black on sight.

The moment he reached the compartment, finding both Sirius and James in it already (Peter still absent), he opened the door and sent a small glare Sirius' way.

Sirius was either too excited to see Remus again to notice the glare, or simply chose to ignore it in usual Sirius Black manner. "Moony!" he sat up, making room next to him so that Remus could sit there, a bright smile evident on his features, contradicting Remus' small frown.

"Hiya Moon-" James went to greet him, but Remus was too focused on the mutt of a person sitting in front of him. Seeing Sirius again made him rethink his intend just for a brief moment, an urge to instead kiss the bastard overtaking him, but that moment passed as quickly as it came.

"I said _no presents_."

The smile on Sirius' face did not alter upon Remus' stern look. "Technically, you said no _Christmas_ presents. Isn't that right, Jamesie?" Sirius turned to shoot James a proud smirk at the last sentence.

James put his hands up in front of him. "Do not involve me in this." he simply said and picked up his Quidditch magazine, choosing to block the other two out until they were done with their argument.

Remus placed his trunk on the luggage rack and finally sat down, causing Sirius' smile to fall when the angered werewolf chose to sit next to James instead of next to him.

"The _entire_ first edition collection in hardcover, Sirius? Are you fucking with me right now?"

"They arrived days _after_ Christmas, no Christmas card, no Christmas wrapping, just a spontaneous present from a friend who has too much money he doesn't need to begin with and would love to spoil his dear friends with it."

Remus' raised his eyebrows a bit, still glaring daggers at Sirius but humoring him slightly in his tone. "Oh? So you bought James a 'spontaneous friend' present as well? And Pete?"

"No." Sirius crossed his arms, now getting a bit irritated himself. "I had already spent money on them for their Christmas presents, so I thought, why bother with spontaneous ones as well."

Without realising it, Remus mimicked Sirius in his anger and crossed his arms as well. "And how much money did you spent on them, exactly? Or better yet," Remus leaned forward, his look on Sirius hardening, "how much money did you spent on _me_?"

Sirius finally returned the glare. "Not enough money, if you want my honest opinion." he stood his ground as he answered.

Remus threw his head back. "This is ridiculous." he muttered to himself. He then looked back at Sirius, feeling like he was seeing red. "You cannot keep doing this, Sirius! I asked you to do _one thing_ and as always you went and did the complete opposite! How much money did it cost?!"

"Oh, I am so _sorry_ Remus for caring for my friend. How _dare_ I want to get you a present! What a horrible person that I am." Sirius spat in pure sarcasm, his glare hardening. "A true nightmare."

That was it. Remus had had enough. He had been contemplating on how big of a fight he should have turned this into, seeing as they had all just returned from Christmas holidays. He felt bad for putting James through this instead of having the three of them share stories and laughs on the ride to the castle, but he was also having a shit day. He was already on edge with his next transformation being just around the corner, feeling his body aching in preparation for the excruciatingly painful change that it was about to undergo, and then Sirius went and bought him an expensive present that _of-fucking-course_ he adored. Now Sirius engaged in the fight instead of brushing him off with that smile of his, and Remus was almost glad for it. He really wanted to just let everything out, to just be angry right now. He never got to be angry, he always had to be the calm, reasonable one. But he had a lot of fucking things to be angry about, and fighting with Sirius over the little things that added to his anger was always so cathartic.

Despite all his anger and need for an outlet, he regretted his next words as soon as he spoke them. "This! This right here is your problem, Sirius! Forget the whole werewolf thing. _T_ _his_ is exactly why we would never work!" he knew he fucked up right away, but neither his own guilt nor the hurt in Sirius' eyes stopped him from continuing. "You _never_ listen to me! To anyone! You strut around, acting like rules simply do not apply to you, giving _zero fucks_ about anyone else's feelings like the insensitive git that you are and no one ever tells you off for it because of your family situation! Well, guess what _Black_ , you are not the only one with problems so you're not fucking excused!"

James was no longer pretending to read his magazine, now looking carefully between Remus and Sirius with a small, uncomfortable frown. "Remus-" he tried with a soft, calming voice, only to get interrupted by a furious and hurt Sirius.

"No, no, Prongs. Remus is right." Sirius never told anyone else that they are right, especially in fights, so James' frown only deepened in worry as he knew Sirius was about to retaliate. "I'm just an arrogant, selfish asshole. So selfish, in fact, that I did something as _horrendous_ as buying the guy who keeps rejecting me something I knew he would love just to make him happy. Not so he would even bother looking at me twice, but just to make _him_ feel happy. Because I _know_ I'm not the only one with problems, _Lupin_ , so I am not going to fucking apologize for genuinely wanting to add just a little bit of joy in your life!"

Remus' eyes widened. He blanked out completely on everything else Sirius had said, being stuck only on one part. _The guy who keeps rejecting me._ The words rang through his head. "You don't get to guilt trip me like that." he was so furious his hands were now slightly shaking, his voice no longer loud but a hoarse whisper. He could feel his nails hurting his clenched fists but could not do anything to stop it. "You don't get to make me the bad guy here."

Silence fell in the compartment, the glaring war between Remus and Sirius creating a very tense atmosphere. James sat frozen, not daring to speak in case he made matters worse, not really knowing what to say at the moment either.

It was then that Peter finally walked into the compartment just as the Hogwarts Express departing whistle was heard. "My mum kept smothering me, she wouldn't let me go!" he complained as he stepped in, confusion clear on his features once he caught sight of the tense scene before him. "Uh, what did I miss?"

"I'm going to the Prefect's car." Remus decided to state, grabbing his trunk as well in indication that he was not planning to return to the compartment after the Prefect's meeting. He then looked at James and Peter in acknowledgment, trying to soften his gaze for them but failing horribly, and completely ignored Sirius as he walked out of the compartment and left.

-

Remus had sat with the girls during the welcoming feast and made sure to stay down at the Common Room to talk with them more after it was over so that he wouldn't have to head over to his dormitory just yet. He was used to putting on fake smiles, so he simply smiled and nodded as Lily, Mary and Marlene talked about their break.

"A _magic kit_ , guys! I swear, my dad thinks he is _so_ funny." Mary's pained voice caused the rest to laugh.

Marlene smirked. "Maybe your cousin just really wanted a magic kit."

Mary shook her head no. "She never asked for a magic kit, dad just wanted to mess with me! I'm telling you, he looked straight at me when he gave my little cousin the present. And he was all smug about it as well, giving my muggle relative a magic kit." she took a sip of her hot chocolate and continued talking. "For him finding out his daughter is magical was only an opportunity to expand his lame jokes."

"Just be glad he didn't buy _you_ a magic kit for Christmas." Lily said, and the horrified look on Mary's face caused all of them to break into little fits of laughter again.

"Remus, how about your Christmas? You've been awfully quiet." Marlene addressed him after they had all calmed down.

Remus offered his best nonchalant look he could. "Oh, nothing out of the ordinary happened." he said. "Just me and my parents. Met up with James, Peter and Sirius a few times as well." he was really proud with himself for not breaking character after saying Sirius' name. He then turned to look at Lily, giving her a teasing smile. "Speaking of James, he mentioned a few hundred times that the two of you kept in touch over the holidays." he managed to move the focus from him to Lily.

The redhead flushed lightly at his words, daring to nod her head a bit, a small smile on her lips. "We did." she said. "He found a telephone box on the town near his house and frequented it whenever I was available to speak. He is such a dork." despite her last statement, the smile on her lips only widened. "The best part is that all the calls got on Petunia's nerves as well. It was amusing having to see her try to remain calm in front of her boyfriend."

"Oh, c'mon, surely he didn't phone you _that_ much." Mary said, only to cause Marlene to roll her eyes with a light snort.

"This is Potter we're talking about, of course he did." Marlene replied.

Lily let out a chuckle. "He was very loud the first few times, as well. He would yell through the line." she said, amused.

Remus shook his head lightly. "I told him not to do that." he exclaimed in a tired manner. "He was such a pain, kept having all these ridiculous questions about it. It caused me to go to the nearest muggle library from my house to read up on how telephones work exactly."

"So, what exactly is the situation here?" Marlene asked then, looking at Lily. "Are you two just friends now or..?"

"Just friends." Lily answered. "For now."

Everyone focused on her after that last bit. "For now?" Mary repeated. "Never heard a 'for now' before."

"Indeed we haven't." Marlene smirked at Lily in a teasing way. "Whatever could it imply, I wonder."

Lily sat up straighter, a determined smirk on her features and the faintest of blushes on her cheeks and ears. "I am not discussing this further with you lot. You are always horrible to me." her smile never fell.

"Now, now, don't be a tease, Evans." Mary chuckled.

Lily simply stuck her tongue out in reply.

-

"Moony? You awake?" came Sirius' voice from outside Remus' bed curtains.

Of course Remus had been awake. He couldn't stop thinking about his fight with Sirius earlier that day on the train, and apparently, neither could Sirius.

Remus did not reply, he just laid still on his bed, trying to decide if Sirius' present would make his mood better or worse.

Getting no reply didn't stop Sirius from opening the curtain, seeing that Remus was awake (and glaring at him) and then getting on the bed, sitting cross-legged across Remus as he had done many times in the past, and casting a quick _Muflliato_ so as not to wake up the others.

Remus sat up to be on equal grounds with him, and so they stayed like that for a while, staring at each other in silence.

It was Sirius who finally broke that silence. "I'm still not going to apologize for the present." he said softly, and Remus was ready to hex him then and there. "But," he spoke again before Remus could even reach for his wand, "I am sorry for making it sound like you owe me anything." he said, and all Remus could do other than stare was nod slowly and hesitantly in acknowledgment. "You are not the bad guy and you have every right to reject me. I never considered how this must be affecting you. I thought it was all good fun, but then I thought about all the girls that kept pestering me before I made it clear just how gay and uninterested in them I was. So if you want me to stop repeatedly asking you out, I will."

Now Remus really didn't know what to say. Sirius actually being empathetic after a fight was a shock to him. Biting the inside of his cheek, he opted for the only method he knew to work most efficiently when dealing with any Sirius situations, which was humour. "Realised that all on your own, did you?" he teased lightheartedly.

Sirius offered a small smile back. "Had a bit of help form Pete, actually."

"Wormtail?" Remus replied, a bit taken aback if he were to be frank.

A small chuckle escaped Sirius as he nodded in affirmation. "Well, Prongs is a lost case himself and I wouldn't be caught dead going to the girls for advice, so Peter stepped up and knocked some sense into me. It was quite horrible, really."

That caused Remus to smile genuinely. "I can imagine. Good on Pete."

Silence fell again, but it was less tense than before, soft smiles on both of their faces and an air of uncertainty surrounding them. 

Remus felt that it was his turn to break the silence. Sirius was willing to be vulnerable right now and Remus had yet to reply seriously to his apology.

Remus breathed in slowly and then met Sirius' grey eyes, something he always loved doing. "While you are completely right that not respecting a person's initial rejection is unacceptable," he started calmly, "I personally don't really... well, that is to say, as a Marauder I appreciate... um, I don't, as long as they are not too public I don't necessarily mind all your... sappy but amusing, you know..." Remus couldn't bring himself to say 'romantic gestures' out loud.

Sirius' eyes widened a bit, a small spark of enthusiasm in them. "You don't?"

"But that doesn't mean that my answer will change and you need to put respect on that. So you really shouldn't bother with-"

"But you don't have a problem with them?"

Remus was grateful for the darkness of the night as that meant his blush was well hidden. "I don't want to lead you on-"

"But I have your permission to continue?" Sirius pressed on.

Remus didn't want to give him false hope, but he couldn't lie at the moment either. He simply shook his head yes, biting his lower lip and avoiding eye contact.

Sirius beamed with happiness, went to move forward but quickly stopped himself and looked at Remus unsure once more. "Are we good again?" he asked.

Remus let a small smile escape him, nodding a yes in response. He decided right then and there to ignore the fact that Sirius still bought him a Christmas present against his wishes, and to just make up with his friend.

Sirius' smile only widened more brightly. In one smooth and quick movement he leaned forward to give Remus a hug, which Remus returned. When they pulled apart, Sirius had a wide smirk on his face, and before Remus could register it Sirius turned into Padfoot and licked Remus' cheek.

"Ew!" Remus chuckled, shoving the big black dog away from him. "Get off me, you big mutt." despite his words, he smiled as he wiped the dog saliva off his face.

Padfoot barked in response, his tail wagging like crazy. Fighting down a laugh, Remus scratched him a bit behind the ear and then ordered him to go back to his own bed. "We have lessons tomorrow morning." he stressed.

Sirius obeyed, not bothering to turn back into human, simply jumping out the bed as a dog and walking to his own bed with all the grace his animagus form could muster.

-

Both James and Peter were very relieved to find that their two friends had ceased fighting when they all woke up the next day. In fact, it was as if the two had never fought to begin with, as if everything was back to normal. But it wasn't, Remus caught himself thinking. He could feel that something had changed between them, and not in a bad way. He just didn't know what it was, how to put it into words, all he knew was that he was content.

The following week, Remus noticed that Sirius had stopped asking him out at random times but still continued expressing his love for the werewolf every chance he got. Whether it was because Remus had said something funny or simply because he was doing something as mundane and ordinary as reading a book. Remus found that he was able to breath better after noting this change in Sirius.

Just as the second week of the semester arrived, Remus found himself walking from the library back to the Gryffindor Tower late afternoon, only to hear a voice next to him complimenting his 'beautiful eyes'. Taken aback, he looked for the source of the voice to find that it was the portrait. In fact, as he kept passing more and more of the portraits, one by one they would all give him either sweet or ridiculous compliments. Just like Sirius' compliments.

Remus rolled his eyes at the connection, the action contradicting the involuntary smile that made its way on to his face.

When he finally reached the entrance to the Gryffindor Common Room, after being told by the Fat Lady that he is 'so hot that dragons turn away in shame', he soon spotted Sirius sitting on the couch, having a conversation about Quidditch with Peter and Marlene.

The minute Sirius saw Remus heading his way, he immediately ignored the other two and smiled brightly at the young werewolf. Remus sat on the couch next to him and opened the book he had borrowed from the library with the intend to start reading it so as to drown out all the Quidditch talk.

"Has anyone ever told you just how stunning you look?" Sirius asked with a smirk.

Remus managed to keep the laugh in. "Yes, about 5 different Hogwarts portraits this afternoon alone." he answered, his eyes still on the book.

"Smart portraits." Sirius replied, not taking his eyes off of Remus, as if searching for something. "So, did you like it?"

Remus smiled wider. "Shut up." he said, causing Sirius' own smile to widen as well, deciding that he had gotten the reaction he wanted.

Sirius didn't ask him out, as he usually would have. He simply held his smile and interjected himself into the conversation with Peter and Marlene again, glancing over at Remus now and then.

Something inside Remus told him that this next semester was going to be even more interesting than the first...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I... I am so sorry, I have no idea what happened. This was supposed to be a lighthearted, fun fic!


End file.
